This is a call on corporations, foundations, organizations and private citizens to join efforts and contribute to the funding of this Fund. 

They need the commitment of each person for the good of all, to tackle this crisis today and tomorrow.

You can discover more on the dedicated webpage.

Moreover, FEBA published on their website the position paper “CODIV-19: the commitment of each person for the good of all”

(English version) (versione in italiano).

Thank You all for your help and support.

Stay safe and healthy!

S4C

Questa è una delle storie che S4C ama raccontare. Una piccola storia; un ragazzo che vive in un minuscolo villaggio del Chiapas; una famiglia povera, poverissima, la cui vita viene improvvisamente stravolta ma che trova sollievo in un gruppo di medici volontari; una storia in cui l’impegno di una fotografa, di una fotografia e di una maglia da calcio si incrociano per fare la differenza.

Conosco solo una persona in grado di raccontare una storia come questa, e di viverla convincendo anche noi ad entrarvi con un ruolo attivo: Eva Quesada di S4C Messico.

Ecco a voi la storia di Gaudiel e della sua maglia da calcio. Però adesso tocca a ciascuno di noi…

Antonio Amendola

—-

Shoot 4 Love, Shoot 4 all

(di Eva Quesada/S4C Mexico)

La Signora Panchita ha il mare negli occhi. Non per il colore ma per la calma delle sue acque che a volte possono diventare onde enormi. La Signora Panchita ha la pelle di papiro, le sue morbide rughe segnano i sentieri di una storia. Le sue mani sembrano guanti logorati dal tempo e dal lavoro.

È impossibile non emozionarsi davanti a così tanta bellezza sparsa per le vie di Chiapas. È impossibile non emozionarsi quando vedo la Signora Panchita guardare fuori dalla finestra che dice: “Io mi sento sana perché butto i miei sospiri all’aria”. Da dove? Da dove scaturisce tanta saggezza? È forse scaturita dalla contemplazione della sua vita,  in un momento in cui si acuiscono tutti i sensi? È forse la conoscenza delle cose, basata sull’emozione che li collega ad una sensibilità assoluta? O è forse la saggezza ancestrale che stiamo lentamente perdendo noi, animali di città, abituati già a sopravvivere al un ritmo sfrenato del traffico,  lavoro,  consumi, notizie, che certamente mutila la nostra capacità di sentire?

La semina, dice la gente di Chiapas, è regolata dalle lune: la semina della terra e la semina delle donne. Perchè anche la donna viene seminata e deve tener conto della luna affinchè il frutto sia buono.

E sì, a volte, credo che qualcosa debbano fare (come tenere il conto delle lune) per la semina dell’amore, perchè ci sono tanti bei frutti in Chiapas capaci di rubare l’anima con un solo sguardo, perché qualche spiegazione logica o mistica debba esserci per tanta perfezione.

Gaudiel è, senza alcun dubbio, un frutto seminato con tutta la precisione del calendario lunare. Secondo sua madre, da bambino, era inquieto e rispondeva male quando lo  rimproverava, però poi, dice “si stringeva alla mia gonna e io gli davo una tortilla tostata con limone”.

Crebbe come i bambini chiapanecos, pieno di sogni tra campi di mais e caffè, trovando giochi perfetti su in montagna. Voleva andare all’università, ma i bimbi nella Sierra sono giovani adulti che crescono con la consapevolezza della propria condizione, il rispetto per le proprie origini e la storia segnata sulle braccia.  Così ogni mattina prima che il sole si alzasse nel firmamento, Gaudiel lavorava nel campo spalla a spalla con suo padre. L’ometto di casa, una volta finita la giornata di lavoro, lasciava la zappa per tornare alla sua infanzia e correre a scuola per essere ancora un bambino.

Un giorno Gaudiel, tornò con un dolore alla schiena, “tardò”, dice sua madre nel “calmarsi”. Però in poco tempo tornò più forte e il dolore lo debilitò. Fu in quel momento che iniziarono il viaggio per la città più vicina dove ci fosse un medico.  Tra passi e passaggi, spendendo una quantità di soldi enorme, partirono mamma, papà e figlio. “Io pensavo” diceva sua madre “che avesse preso freddo, o che gli si fosse storto qualcosa … io pensavo che una pasticca di quelle che danno per i dolori lo potesse aiutare”. Ma no, Gaudiel aveva un tumore.

Il frutto buono, Gaudiel dagli occhi grandi, che nacque con la luna perfetta, aveva un tumore e l’operazione non era sufficiente per salvargli la possibilità di correre tra i campi di grano, rimanendo così, prostrato nel letto.

I genitori vendettero tutto quello che avevano, chiedendo prestiti e cercarono tutti gli aiuti possibili, ma la paralisi vinse la battaglia e prese non solo le gambe di Gaudiel ma anche tutti i suoi sogni e il cuore di sua madre, lasciandola sospesa nel preciso istante che le dissero che suo figlio non avrebbe più camminato.

In un gesto di profonda tristezza, tenerezza e amore, Gaudiel decise che vivere due anni in un letto, erano abbastanza per convicerlo che non aveva molte ragioni per rimanere più tempo li, così decise di smettere di mangiare.

I medici di Partners in Health México entrarono in scena tentando di incoraggiarlo a fare esercizi che gli avessero permesso almeno di muoversi in casa sua con una sedia a rotelle.

E fu così che conobbi Gaudiel.

Cominciammo ad andare a casa sua ogni giorno per convincerlo a fare i suoi esercizi, a ridare alla famiglia i sorrisi che avevano perduto. Tra scherzi, stetoscopi, biscotti e fotografie, i legami cominciarono a stringersi e un giorno Gaudiel confessò la sua profonda ammirazione per una squadra di calcio messicana.

Ritornai a Città del Messico e mi misi in contatto con il signor Alberto Lati, commentatore sportivo, per chiedergli una maglia firmata dalla squadra messicana. Lati non solo ottenne la maglia, ma in più gli mandò una lettera in cui gli offriva di portarlo ad un allenamento a Città del Messico a patto che lui, avesse contraccambiato con gli esercizi, mangiando e, soprattutto, scegliendo di vivere.

La mattina in cui andammo a far visita a Gaudiel per dargli la notizia, i suoi occhi neri diventarono due grandi soli pieni di luce. Leggeva a voce alta e la voce gli tremava. Leggeva e ritornava più di una volta su alcune frasi: “ti invito all’allenamento del Cruz Azul a Città del Messico”… “la vita può essere molto difficile però non sempre tutto è così brutto”… “io ti sostengo”…”io ti sostengo”… “io ti sostengo”…

Questo però non è un articolo per raccontare a voi la storia di Gaudiel, questa è una lettera per rendervi autori della storia di Gaudiel.

In un mondo sommerso da grandi problematiche, a volte è facile perdersi tra le tante cose che vorremmo ma non possiamo risolvere.  Tuttavia, oltre le grandi catastrofi, oltre i grandi problemi, esistono nel mondo centinaia e centinaia di piccole storie che meritano anche solo di essere osservate ed è proprio qui che possiamo intervenire.

Nel tentativo di accorciare le distanze, la sede messicana di Shoot 4 Change unita con la sede di Roma, ha unito le proprie forze per lanciare un’ idea: una maglia che costerà una piccola somma di denaro. Qual è l’idea? Che la persona che compra questa maglia la indossi e scriva un messaggio a mo’ di manifesto per Gaudiel per poi scattarsi una foto che ci invierà.

Il ricavato servirà per portare Gaudiel e sua madre a Città del Messico e dare loro anche un piccolo aiuto economico. Le fotografie, tuttavia, serviranno a far vedere a Gaudiel che sì, ci sono momenti difficili, ma c’è anche molta gente che si può unire per regalargli un giorno di luce vera.

Sono le piccole azioni fatte giorno per giorno che migliorano la nostra vita. Guardiamo Gaudiel e salviamolo dalla tragedia che porta un ragazzo di 21 anni a lasciarsi morire. Iniettiamogli volontà, uniamoci ai medici e che loro gli diano medicine e noi amore, per curare insieme Gaudiel nel corpo e nell’anima.

Tornare a guardare Gaudiel è tornare a vedere noi stessi e salvare quella parte che andiamo perdendo nelle nostre giornate movimentate. Guardare Gaudiel è guardare un segno del mondo al quale bisogna guardare affinché il mondo riparta come si deve.

Facciamo click sulla luna giusta affinché il frutto sia buono e condividiamolo

Shoot 4 love, Shoot 4 all… Shoot 4 Change.

Eva Quesada/S4C Mexico

—

scrivete a e.quesada@shoot4change.net per ulteriori

Shoot 4 Love, Shoot 4 All

 The Story of Gaudiel

(by Eva Quesada/S4C Mexico)

The sea lives in Doña Panchita’s eyes, not because of their colour but because of the calmness of its waters, which can, sometimes, turn into enormous waves. Doña Panchita’s face is made of papyrus; her soft wrinkles trace the path of her story. Her hands are like gloves made of time and labour.

I can’t help the excitement of so much beauty laid around the paths of Chiapas. I can’t help being moved by watching Doña Panchita look out the window and say, “I’m good (healthy) because I throw my sighs into the air”. Where does their wisdom come from? Is it from the contemplation of their lives from a scenario that exacerbates the senses? Is it because their knowledge of the world is based on emotions and this allows them to connect to a higher form of sensibility? Or is it simply the wisdom that they’ve gathered through generations and that we, city animals, have lost by getting used to live in a hectic rhythm dictated by traffic, jobs, consumerism and news in a scenario that, without a doubt, mutilates our capacity to feel?

The people of Chiapas believe that the sowings must be done in accordance with the cycles of the moon; the sowing of the earth but also the sowing of their women, for women are also planted, and one must take into account the moon for her fruit to be a good one.

I actually think there is some wisdom to this, for they must be doing something (like counting moons) when they plant love. There must be an explanation for why there are so many beautiful, magical children in Chiapas, capable of capturing your soul with a single gaze; there must be an explanation, mystical or logical, for such perfection.

Gaudiel is certainly the fruit of a perfectly planted seed in accordance to the moon calendar. Her mother remembers him as a restless boy that reacted badly when reprimanded but that would afterwards “wrap himself in my skirts while I gave him a toasted tortilla with lime juice”.

He grew up like most children do in Chiapas, full of dreams and among the corn and coffee plantations, improvising toys with whatever he could find in the mountain range. He wanted to go to college, but the children in the mountain range are little adults that grow fully conscious of their reality and carry the responsibility of their history on their shoulders. So before dawn, every day, he worked with his father in the fields and once the day’s work was over the little man returned to being a child and ran to school.

One day Gaudiel complained of a backache. According to his mother it took some time for it to “calm down”. But it wasn’t long before the pain came back stronger, and it eventually tuned into weakness.  It was in that moment that they left their home and headed to the nearest city where they could find a doctor. It took long walks and bus rides and the cost was enormous but Gaudiel and his parents left home. “I thought”, sais his mother, “that it was the cold o a sprained back … I thought that one of those pills for the pain would help”, but they didn’t. Gaudiel had a tumour.

The good fruit, Gaudiel, with his big eyes, who was born under a perfect moon had a tumour and a badly preformed surgery wasn’t enough to allow him to, once again, run in the fields. He was paralyzed.

His parents sold everything they had, borrowed money and looked for help everywhere but the paralysis won the battle and took Gaudiel’s legs, his dreams and his mother’s heart, leaving her suspended in that instant in which she learnt that her son would never walk again.

In an act of profound sadness, tenderness and love, Gaudiel decided that two years in the same bed where enough to convince him that there weren’t many reasons to stay there, he decided to stop eating.

The doctors from Partners in Health Mexico found him in this stage, they encouraged him to exercise hoping to free him from bed. He would at least be able to move around the house in a wheel chair.

This is how I met Gaudiel.

We began to visit him every day, we tried to convince him to exercise and we tried to give his family back the smiles they lost long ago.  Jokes, stethoscopes, laughs and photographs helped to bring us closer and one day Gaudiel confessed his deep admiration for one of Mexico’s football teams.

I returned to Mexico City and managed to contact a renowned sports caster, Alberto Lati. My hope was that he would help me get a Jersey of Gaudiel’s team signed by the players. Not only did Mr. Lati get us the Jersey, he also sent a letter promising to take Gaudiel to a training session in exchange for him committing to his rehabilitation exercises, eating properly and, above all, choosing to live.

The morning we visited Gaudiel to give him the news his big black eyes filled with light. He read Mr. Lati’s letter aloud and his voice cracked. He read the same phrases once and again; “ I’m inviting you to a training session of your team, Cruz Azul, in Mexico City”… “Life can be very difficult but it’s not always that bad” … “”I’m here for you” … “”I’m here for you” … “”I’m here for you” …

But this article’s intention is not to tell Gaudiel’s story, it is in fact a letter that seeks to make you a part of it.

In a world that’s filled with big problems, it’s easy to get lost in front of all the things we wish we could solve. But beyond the great catastrophes, and beyond the great conflicts there are thousands of small stories that also deserve to be looked upon and it is in those stories that we can make a change.

For one of the first joint projects between the different country headquarters, Shoot 4 Change Mexico and Shoot 4 Change Rome will launch together a T-Shirt aimed at raising funds for these initiatives. The first one will be Gaudiel’s. We ask whoever buys these T-Shirts to send us a portrait wearing it and holding a message for Gaudiel.

The money raised will be used to pay for a trip for him and his mother to Mexico City, for him to attend his team’s practice and any extra will be given to them. The portraits, however, will help remind him that even in the toughest moments there are many people willing to help, willing to present him with a moment full of light and joy.

It is these small gestures that can truly change the world.

Let’s turn our eyes to Gaudiel and save him from the tragedy of a 21-year-old boy that’s willing to let himself die. Let’s give him the will to move forward and join his doctors. While they give him treatment, we can give him love,  and together we can heal his body and his soul.

By turning our eyes to him we will see ourselves and save that part that we are loosing in the daily chaos of our lives.  To look at Gaudiel is to look at a sign of our world that needs to be seen for it to march well.

Let’s make click in the right moon, for its fruit to be the correct one and for us to share it together… Shoot 4 Love, Shoot 4 All … Shoot 4 Change.

Eva Quesada/S4C Mexico

—–

write e.quesada@shoot4change.net for further information on how to help

(click to watch an extract from “Fracture Zone: Afghanistan”)

Questa è una campagna alla quale aderiamo con entusiasmo e convinzione. Il tema dell’accesso delle bambine, delle ragazze, delle donne all’educazione in Paesi come il Pakistan, l’Afghanistan, etc è la chiave per qualsiasi riflessione sul futuro della nostra società.  Ha ragione Ban Ki Moon quando afferma che una ragazza con un libro è un’immagine spaventosa per i terroristi.

Una bambina che ha studiato, è una bambina con “scarso valore di mercato”, perchè non la si può “vendere” facilmente come sposa. Perchè prima o poi, “avendo studiato ed essendo colta” rischia di volersi emancipare. E’ pericolosa.

Una bambina che ha studiato è pericolosa, perchè prima o poi potrebbe capire che esistono dei diritti inalienabili. Lo potrebbe scoprire in un libro magari.

Una bambina che ha studiato è pericolosa, perchè prima o poi potrebbe scriverlo un libro. E magari quel libro potrebbe andare in giro facendo capire ad altre bambine che quei diritti esistono e sono anche i loro.

Una bambina che ha studiato è pericolosa, perchè potrebbe scrivere un blog prima o poi….

Noi di Shoot4Change crediamo fortemente che ogni vera rivoluzione sociale comincia dalla cultura. Ed è per questo che appoggiamo la campagna Girl With a Book, perchè a noi piacciono le ragazze che non hanno paura.

Antonio Amendola

———–

Girls who are not afraid

by Magdalena Chodownik, Małgorzata Juchniewicz  (Poland)

“The terrorists showed what frightens them most: a girl with a book.”, said Ban Ki Moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations after the Taliban shot in the head Malala Yousafzai –  16-year old Pakistani activist, who has been fighting for the access to education. These words have become inspiration for the international movement GIRLWITHABOOK.

Malala Yousafzai, despite her young age is already described as the symbol of fight for the access to education and women’s rights. Until recently she lived in the Swat Valley in Pakistan, but few months ago she was shot in the head by the Taliban and soon after transported to the United Kingom for treatment. She is there with her family until today.

Malala was born and brought up in Mingora, Swat Valley in Pakistan, which lies close to the border with Afganistan. Being a daughter of a school director, poet and activist, from the early age, she has been brought up in the conviction that the right to education is her basic and inalienable right. Being supported by her family, she has dedicated herself to education – she wanted to become a doctor. Unfortunately, the extremists, who took over Swat Valley and started to introduce rigid canon law, wanted her plans for education to founder.

(ph: Antonio Amendola – School for Girls in Changchara (Gwor Province, Afghanistan)

Overtaking the valley by the Taliban and the introduction of extreme conservative rule among the community that did not suport such fundamentalistic principles, led to the outbreak of a conflict. „The situation started to resemble the Taliban regime in the 90s. The punishment in the form of stonning, flogging or public executions for adultery was introduced. Entertainment got banned, including music, even shops that were selling records/CDs were being destroyed. Women were told to stay at home, „guardians of virtue” ordered them to wear burqas and public education became forbdden for them”, writes in her commentary phd Agnieszka Kuszewska, expert on Pakistan (CSPA, SWPS).

Amongst the damage caused by the fight for land and influence, schools and as a result  students became victims of the Taliban, being deprived of the opportunity for education. Boys were meant to move to coran schools and girls were supposed to be denied the access to education completely. Bombs started to be put under the schools for girls.

At the beginning of 2009, young Malala under the pseudonim of Gul Makai started blogging for BBC Urdu:

„I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taleban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taleban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools.

Only 11 students attended the class out of 27. The number decreased because of Taleban’s edict. My three friends have shifted to Peshawar, Lahore and Rawalpindi with their families after this edict.

On my way from school to home I heard a man saying ‘I will kill you’. I hastened my pace and after a while I looked back if the man was still coming behind me. But to my utter relief he was talking on his mobile and must have been threatening someone else over the phone.”

Malala was writing abort the difficult situation of women, that she wants to study and she is deprived of this opportunity and that she stopped feeling safe in Swat. Her fears were well-grounded. International media publicised her protest against the principles imposed by the Taliban, she herself did not cease her activism, which made her a serious enemy for the extremists. They called her „a symbol of infidels and indecensy”, and she got sentenced to death for her activism.

On 9th October 2012, the Taliban stopped a school bus, which Malala was using on the way back home, they called her out and shot in the head.

The girl survived. She was transported for medical treatment to the UK, where she has stayed with her family until today. She also started there her further education and she still dedicates herself to activism in favour of the access to education – she opened her foundation, signed a contract for a book.

Valued and recognised around the world, Malala is a laureate of multiple prezes: she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize by Desmond Tutu; in December 2011 she received a first National Peace Prize for Youth in Pakistan and the UN made 12th July Malala Day; TIME and Newsweek magazines unanimously acclaimed her to be one of the most influential people in the world just to name few. The girl is also the youngest person in the world to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and became the face of the international campaign, as part of which women around the world take pictures of themselves with a sign “I stand with Malala”.

We take photographs in order to support the principles of Pakistani activist and to draw attention to the global problem which is the lack of access to education and sometimes very poor quality of schooling in the world. We believe that education can change the world, be an alternative and a solid foundation for a better future, and that our actions will sensitise people. We are aware that the issues we raise are neither easy nor pleasant, but more than speaking we are afraid of silence and ignorance. Malala Yousafzai said “I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.”

The campaign started in US and was launched by Lena Shareef and Olivia Curl, but then it inspired people around the world.

More information: dziewczynkazksiazka.wordpress.com
e-mail where you can send your pictures: dziewczynkazksiazka@gmail.com
FB: #GIRLWITHABOOK or Dziewczynka z książką